# pau
## Translingual
### Symbol

pau
* (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Palauan.

### See also

* Wiktionary's coverage of Palauan terms

## English
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

pau (plural paus)
* Alternative form of pa (“Maori fort”)

### Etymology 2

From Hawaiian Pidgin English pau, from Hawaiian pau (“done, finished”).

#### Adjective

pau (not comparable)
* (Hawaii) done; over; finished
** 1946, Armine Von Tempski, Bright Spurs, page 122:I had never known any haoles except Elmer and Marks and they were ice cold affairs. Everyone was always glad when their twice-a-month visit was pau. The very island seemed to sigh with relief […]
** 2004, Mike Ashman, Kauaʻi Historical Society, Kauai as it was in the 1940s and '50s:When the county truck was pau hauling rubbish for the day, […]

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

pau
* (historical) A unit of volume used in Brunei, Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak, equivalent to 2 imperial gills (approximately 0.284 litres or 0.6 US pints).

### Etymology 4

Borrowed from Chinese 包.

#### Noun

pau
* (Malaysia and Singapore) Alternative form of bao (“baozi; Chinese steamed buns with filling”).

### See also

* pau d'arco
* pau hana

### Anagrams

* APU, AUP, PUA, UAP, UPA, pua

## 'Are'are
### Noun

pau
* head

### References

* Kateřina Naitoro, A Sketch Grammar of 'Are'are: The Sound System and Morpho-Syntax (2013)

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈpaw]
* Rhymes: -aw

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan pau, from Latin pācem, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-. Compare Occitan patz, French paix, Spanish paz.

#### Noun

pau f (plural paus)
* peace

##### Derived terms

* fer les paus (“to end a quarrel”)

##### Related terms

* pacífic
* pacificar
* pagar

### Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

#### Noun

pau m (plural paus)
* spotted dragonet (a fish of the species Callionymus maculatus)
    Synonyms: aferrapedres m, aferra-roques m

### Etymology 3

Uncertain. Sometimes ascribed to Paul, but also as a phonetic reduction of *paup, alternating form of palp (“the act of feeling”).

#### Adjective

pau (feminine pava, masculine plural paus, feminine plural paves)
* credulous; gullable; rustic

#### Noun

pau m (plural paus)
* fool; rube

### References

* “pau” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “pau”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “pau” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “pau” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese pao, from Latin pālus (“stake”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ- (“attach”). Compare Portuguese pau and Spanish palo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpaw/ [ˈpɑw]
* Rhymes: -aw

### Noun

pau m (plural paus)
* stick
    Synonym: vara
** 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 605:[Et] poserõ perlos muros beesteyros et arque[yro]s muytos et outros, pera deytar quantos et paos agudos metudos en ferros, en guisa que os que se quisesem chegar ao muro nõ podesem escapar de morte And they arranged many crossbowmen and bowmen on the walls, to throw stones and sharp sticks inserted in irons, so as the ones who wanted to came near the wall could not escape the death
* (uncountable) wood (material)
    Synonyms: fuste, madeira
** 1457, F. R. Tato Plaza, editor, Libro de notas de Álvaro Pérez, notario da Terra de Rianxo e Postmarcos. Santiago: Concello da Cultura Galega (Ponencia de Lingua), page 171:Tres ballestas: J de aseyro, IJ de paoThree crossbows: one of steel, two of wood
** 1700, Domingo Blanco, editor, A Poesía popular en Galicia, Vigo: Serais, page 124:Santo San Bras de Viana feito de pau de amieiroSaint Saint [sic] Blaise of Viana, carved in alder wood
* blow
    Synonyms: golpe, pancada

#### Derived terms

* pau de cego

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “pao”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “pao”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “pau”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “pau”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “pau”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Hawaiian
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈpau̯/, [ˈpɐw], [ˈpɔw] (rapid speech)

### Verb

pau
* (stative) finished, done
* (stative) destroyed
* (idiomatic) all
    E aloha i nā hoa a pau.Greet all the friends.

## Hawaiian Creole
### Etymology

From Hawaiian pau (“finished”).

### Verb

pau
* done, finished
    You pau awready?Are you done already?

## Limos Kalinga
### Noun

pau
* mango

## Portuguese
### Alternative forms

* páo (obsolete)

### Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese pao, from Latin pālus (“stake”), from Proto-Italic *pākslos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ-slos, from *peh₂ǵ-. Compare Galician pau, Asturian palu, and Spanish palo.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈpaw/ [ˈpaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈpaw/
* Rhymes: -aw
* Hyphenation: pau
* Audio (São Paulo):(file)

### Noun

pau m (plural paus)
* stick
* wood
* (figuratively, slang, vulgar) penis, dick, cock, prick
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pénis
* singular of paus (“clubs”) (one of the four suits of playing cards)
* (slang) a unit of currency
    Isso custou uns 500 paus. ― That cost about 500 bucks.

#### Derived terms

* bicho-pau
* inseto-pau
* pau a pique
* pau de arara
* pau para toda obra
* pau-brasil
* pau-preto
* paulada
* santo do pau oco

#### Related terms

* empalar
* paliçada
* palito

#### Descendants

* Guinea-Bissau Creole: po
* Kabuverdianu: pó
* → Swahili: pao, pau

### References

* ↑ “pau”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* ↑ “pau”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Swahili
### Pronunciation

* Audio (Kenya):(file)

### Noun

pau class IX (plural pau class X)
* Alternative form of pao

### See also

Suits in Swahili · ng'anda (see also: karata, karata za kucheza) (layout · text) :
| makopa | uru | shupaza, majembe | pao, pau, karanga, mavi ya mbuzi |

## Welsh
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle Welsh peu, from Latin pāgus (“district, province”). Cognate with Cornish pow.

### Pronunciation

* (North Wales) IPA: /paɨ̯/
* (South Wales) IPA: /pai̯/

### Noun

pau f (plural peuoedd)
* (archaic) land, nation

#### Synonyms

* gwlad

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “pau”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh-English Dictionary, Gwerin
* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “pau”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

## West Frisian
### Etymology

From Latin pāvō (“peacock”).

### Noun

pau c (plural pauwen, diminutive pauke)
* peacock

#### Further reading

* “pau (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011